Frameline Film Fest: Whole New Thing June 16, 2006

Whole New Thing

“How long does this rite of passage thing last?” complains Emerson, the home-schooled adolescent son of hippie parents living in Nova Scotia. Sensitive young Emerson faces a whole new thing when he must attend the local public school to boost his lagging math skills. Unfortunately, he’s more used to smoking pot and relaxing nude in the sauna with his parents and their friends than the company of other teens.

Emerson’s new life at school isn’t the only whole new thing in his life; he also develops a wild crush on Mr. Grant (Daniel MacIvor), his literature teacher. Ever the professional, Mr. Grant maintains a healthy distance from his precocious student, getting his own fulfillment from trysts in a park restroom. But Emerson pushes things too far when he lures Mr. Grant to his family home and a visit to the sauna. Where are Emerson’s cool parents? Too caught up in their own whole new things to notice Emerson’s angst—mom is having a not-so-secret affair and dad is stewing in mid-life depression and anger.

With hauntingly romantic songs by gay pop group The Hidden Cameras, Whole New Thing presents coming of age in a whole new light. Written by McIvor, who wrote and directed Wilby Wonderful (Frameline29), and featuring several lead actors from that film, Whole New Thing is a canny and inspiring vision of how unwelcome changes in our lives can lead to unexpected pleasures. Sometimes we all need a whole new thing.

—COREY EUBANKS

WHOLE NEW THING dir Amnon Buchbinder 2005 Canada 92 min 35mm

This program is sponsored by Canadian Consulate.

Official Website: http://www.frameline.org/festival/30th/filmsevents.html